Barefoot

Poems for Naked Feet

Think of a world without problems, without cares, without...well...shoes! Have you ever stomped through leftover paper like a monster or plunged your feet into a chilly sleeping bag while camping? Maybe you've put your soles up against a Jacuzzi jet or found funny marks when you pulled off your socks. If so, you'll find company in this collection of musings about the beauties of being barefoot. In twenty-six poems, Stefi Weisburd explores where we go, what we feel, and what shouldn't be underfoot when our feet are at their freest. Lori McElrath-Eslick adds color to these contemplations with lively watercolor illustrations.

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Summary

Is the humble foot a topic worthy of an entire book of poetry? Surprisingly, the answer is yes when author Weisburd dedicates her imaginative verse to carefree and frolicking feet. Describing toes in the sand and shoeless romps in the grass, many of the poems evoke the delight of summer days, while others imagine feet as stomping Godzillas or bulldozers. Poetic styles vary and include rhyme, free verse, and shape poems. The author excels at making the everyday delightful, such as in "Shocking" where scooting across the carpet becomes a gleeful method of exacting revenge on an annoying sibling: “Rub your feet / target locked / Charge! Discharge! / brother shocked.” Readers will find a strong use of metaphor throughout, describing wrinkled bathtub feet as "two puckered old men” or feet in the dirt as the roots of a rose bush. Appealing watercolors in cheerful pastels complement the text. Kick off your shoes, sit down with this book, and celebrate the freedom of bare feet.